One cycle

 

"1" in 12987 process means that it takes one year to complete a cycle in the brewing process of Daqu sauce wine.

 

Twice feeding

 

"2" in 12987 process. It means that in the brewing process of Daqu sauce wine, grain needs to be added twice.

 

"Sand" means red grain, namely sorghum. The first batch production process is the so-called "down sand" in the production process of Maotai flavor baijiu. "Xiasha" includes six processes: moistening sand, cooking, cooling, adding koji, stacking and pit fermentation.

 

The second feeding is to add new sorghum in the ratio of 1:1 and continue steamer cooking. After cooling, add Qu medicine, collect and ferment, and then go down the cellar again. The first two cooking materials do not take wine, just to increase the fermentation time and carry more microorganisms.

 

Nine cooking

 

"9" in 12987 process. It means that nine cooking times are required in the brewing process of Daqu sauce wine.

 

The container used is called "steamer" [Z è ng], also known as steamer. It is a kitchen tool commonly used by Guizhou people for cooking. The steamer in Maotai town can hold 1500 Jin of sorghum, and the cooking link is very key. Each cooking takes about two hours.

 

The first two grain inputs were cooked twice, but no wine was taken. The third cooking starts from the twelfth month to the first month of the next year. The wine will be taken for the remaining seven cooking, and the cooking process will not be completed until September of the next lunar calendar.

 

Eight times fermentation

 

"8" in 12987 process. It means that eight times of fermentation are required in the brewing process of Daqu sauce wine. Fermentation is divided into "Yin Yang fermentation". Opening is fermentation, which means that the fermented grains are cooled and accumulated, and the microorganisms that are beneficial to the human body in the air are fully collected. It is "Yang fermentation", also known as "aerobic fermentation"; Closed fermentation refers to the fermentation of fermented grains sealed in the pit with pit mud after open fermentation to a certain extent, which is intended to absorb the aura of the earth. It is the fermentation of wine production, which is "Yin fermentation", also known as "anaerobic fermentation"

 

The fermentation pit is made of stone walls and sealed with local yellow mud. It is not breathable. It is 3 ~ 4 meters deep and can hold 15 ~ 20 steamers of distiller's grains. During the cellar period, it is necessary to check frequently and spray water frequently to prevent dry crack and air intake. In fact, Maotai town is a natural large cellar: Chishui River Valley and two mountains are opposite Qi, which is hot and cold in a day.

 

Take the wine seven times

 

"7" in 12987 process. It means that in the brewing process of Daqu sauce wine, it takes seven times to get the wine. After the swelling of sorghum starch for sand laying and sand making, the starch begins to be gelatinized, saccharified and alcoholized, and then enters the procedure of taking wine seven times.